Crime and punishment

Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders through the slums of St Petersburg and commits a random murder without remorse or regret.

He imagines himself to be a great man, a Napoleon: acting for a higher purpose beyond conventional moral law.

But as he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a suspicious police investigator, Raskolnikov is pursued by the growing voice of his conscience and finds the noose of his own guilt tightening around his neck.

Only Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute, can offer the chance of redemption.